1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of internal combustion engines for motor vehicles and, more particularly, to devices that improve vaporization of liquid fuels.
2. Description of the Related Art
Internal combustion engines are utilized in a wide variety of motor vehicles including passenger cars and trucks, boats, aircraft, motorcycles, and recreational vehicles, as well as in a variety of home, commercial, and/or agricultural vehicles and implements. Internal combustion engines operate generally as air pumps by drawing in a quantity of atmospheric air, combining fuel with the air, and initiating a controlled combustion of the fuel/air mixture in a contained manner such that the heat and pressure of the combustion process can be converted to work energy. Three fairly common types of internal combustion engines, known generally as 4 stroke or Otto cycle reciprocating engines, 2 stroke reciprocating engines, and Wankel type rotary engines, utilize gasoline, alcohol, or other relatively volatile liquid fuels and initiate the combustion process by providing a temporary electrical arc or spark. While these types of engines represent a well developed technology, they all suffer the relative disadvantage of fairly inefficient conversion of the available heat energy in the fuel/air mixture to useful work energy as a significant fraction is lost as waste heat energy.
As fuel, such as gasoline, used in internal combustion engines is a relatively expensive commodity, it is desirable that the conversion process of available heat energy to useful work energy be made more efficient. Thus, there is a need to increase the efficiency of the internal combustion process to reduce fuel costs and to extend the range or operating time of an engine for a given quantity of fuel.